Verstappen and Red Bull slated by Minardi over Spanish Grand Prix mishaps

21:30, 05 Jun

bySavannah Lenz

Former F1 team principal Gian Carlo Minardi had a fierce opinion on Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing during the Spanish Grand Prix. He discussed the two in a conversation with the Italian branch of Motorsport.com.

Mistakes made during the race doomed Red Bull

Minardi feels that the team and Verstappen made many mistakes during the Spanish Grand Prix, which affected Minardi's rating.

"I give Red Bull a seven. The first part of the season was very well managed, but then they made that mistake at the end."

He continued, "For Verstappen, I am a bit stricter, and I give him a six. He started strong, but ruined everything with that action [with Russell]. He should know better with four world championships.’’

After Verstappen and Russell went head to head the first time, Verstappen was instructed to give the position back after going off track. It was after that, that Verstappen and Russell collided.

Max Verstappen, George Russell pitlane Barcelona

Max Verstappen with George Russell in the background during the Barcelona Grand Prix

Minardi said, ‘’At that moment, of course, we are talking about milliseconds, and clarity is needed to make important decisions, which is probably also due to mistakes."

"In reality, that was not the case, so it is difficult to judge. I would say that the fact of the hard tyres is more serious. I think that [letting Russell pass] could have been similar to other situations where the change of position was necessary."

One of the biggest mistakes made, per Minardi, was the choice to pit Verstappen for hard tyres.

"The biggest mistake, in my opinion, is the hard tyres. I can even say that when they had not put him in, he managed to keep the third position. I seriously think he wouldn't have finished tenth anyway, for one very simple reason: he would have started first, ahead of the McLaren, and the whole bunch would have had to attack."

This article was written in collaboration with Hidde Korte.